The Commerce Department reported Thursday that real gross domestic product rose at a 1.8% annualized rate in the first quarter, down from a 3.1% increase in the fourth quarter.

A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed that number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits rose 25,000 to 429,000 in the week ending April 23. Economists expected jobless claims to drop to 395,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, increased 9,250 to 408,500. Continuing claims for the week ending April 16 fell 68,000 to 3.64 million.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) said Thursday that its first-quarter profit jumped 69% to $10.65 billion, or $2.14 a share, from $6.3 billion, or $1.33 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue climbed to $114 billion from $90.3 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $2.04 a share on revenue of $112.6 billion.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) said Thursday that its third-quarter profit climbed to $2.87 billion, or 96 cents a share, from $2.59 billion, or 83 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.The company said its core earnings rose 8% to 96 cents a share. Revenue grew 5% to $20.23 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 97 cents a share on revenue of $20.24 billion.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) reported Thursday that its first-quarter loss narrowed to $439 million, or 15 cents a share, from $865 million, or 29 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue climbed to $8.31 billion from $8.09 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report a loss of 22 cents a share on revenue of $8.2 billion.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) said late Wednesday that its first-quarter profit jumped to $163.5 million, or 47 cents per American Depository Share, from $70.4 million or $2.10 per share before a 10-for-1 stock split a year ago. Revenue surged to $372 million from $189.60 million. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 45 cent per share on revenue of $367.38 million.

European stocks were mixed in afternoon trade. At 13:38 pm London Time, the UK FTSE fell 8.71 points, or 0.14%, to 6,059.45. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.46% and 0.44% respectively.

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